(Lausanne) The Russian anti-doping agency has filed an appeal in the case of figure skater Kamila Valieva, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Friday, but it asked that the teenager be punished with a simple reprimand and retains his Olympic gold medal.
CAS confirmed that it recorded three separate calls, one from the Russian agency known as RUSADA, one from the World Anti-Doping Agency and another from the International Skating Union. The appeals could now be combined into one proceeding to decide a case that clouded the Beijing Olympics last year.
WADA had previously indicated that it was asking CAS to impose a four-year ban. The ISU requested a sanction at its discretion.
Tribunal officials have indicated that it is not possible for them, at this time, to indicate a timeframe for the publication of the decision.
The three parties who appealed should now have to cooperate to choose one of the three judges of a typical CAS judgment panel. Normal procedure is for Valieva’s legal team to select a judge and the court to appoint a person to chair the panel.
RUSADA, WADA and ISU are challenging a Russian anti-doping tribunal’s ruling last year that Valieva committed “no fault or negligence” for the positive test carried out in December 2021 with the drug trimetazidine. for the heart forbidden in sport. The court disqualified Valieva from the Russian national championships, where she provided the sample, but from no other event.
Valieva’s positive test wasn’t reported until several weeks later at the Beijing Olympics, where she had already helped the Russians win gold in the team event.
Aged just 15, Valieva was favorite to win the women’s individual event in Beijing, but after several days of intense media coverage and an appeal to CAS that allowed her to continue competing, she placed fourth after having multiplied the errors during his routine.
RUSADA has acknowledged that Valieva violated its anti-doping rules and has suggested that she now face “appropriate consequences (which may include or be limited to a reprimand),” CAS said in a statement.
No medal ceremony for the team event was held in Beijing. Team USA never received their silver medals and could potentially be upgraded to gold.